Conrad Waddington's famous illustration of a ball poised at the top of an undulating epigenetic landscape is often evoked when one thinks of epigenetics. Although the original figure was a metaphor for gene regulation during cell fate determination, we now know that epigenetic regulation is important for the homeostasis of every tissue and organ in the body. This is evident in the cardiovascular system, one of the first organs to develop and one whose function is vital to human life.

Epigenetic mechanisms are central in regulating transcription and signaling programs that drive cardiovascular disease and development. The epigenome not only instructs cell and context specific gene expression signatures, but also retains “memory” of past events and can pass it down to subsequent generations. Understanding the various input and output signals from the cardiac epigenome is crucial for unraveling the molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular disease and development. This knowledge is useful for patient risk stratification, understanding disease pathophysiology, and identifying novel approaches for cardiac regeneration and therapy. In this special issue, a series of high-quality reviews and original research articles examining the field of cardiac epigenetics will broaden our insights into this fundamental aspect of molecular and cellular cardiology. Topics include DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin architecture, transcription factors, and long non-coding RNA biology in the diverse cell types that comprise the cardiovascular system. We hope that our readers will expand their horizons and be challenged to envision innovative strategies to further probe the epigenome and develop diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for cardiovascular pathologies.

当人们想到表观遗传学时，常常会想起康拉德·沃丁顿 (Conrad Waddington) 的著名插图，球位于起伏的表观遗传景观的顶部。虽然最初的数字是细胞命运决定过程中基因调控的隐喻，但我们现在知道表观遗传调控对于体内每个组织和器官的稳态都很重要。这在心血管系统中很明显，它是最早发育的器官之一，其功能对人类生命至关重要。

表观遗传机制在调节驱动心血管疾病和发展的转录和信号传导程序方面至关重要。表观基因组不仅指示细胞和环境特定的基因表达特征，还保留过去事件的“记忆”，并将其传递给后代。了解来自心脏表观基因组的各种输入和输出信号对于解开心血管疾病和发展的分子基础至关重要。这些知识对于患者风险分层、了解疾病病理生理学以及确定心脏再生和治疗的新方法非常有用。在本期特刊中，一系列关于心脏表观遗传学领域的高质量评论和原创研究文章将拓宽我们对分子和细胞心脏病学这一基本方面的见解。主题包括构成心血管系统的不同细胞类型中的 DNA 甲基化、组蛋白修饰、染色质结构、转录因子和长链非编码 RNA 生物学。我们希望我们的读者能够扩大视野并接受挑战，以设想创新策略以进一步探索表观基因组并开发心血管疾病的诊断和治疗解决方案。